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What’s Up Above? November Stargazing

As November continues the transition between seasons, it brings with it experiences and moments when bounty and baron are equally placed before us. It reminds me of Taoist belief system represented in the yin and yang symbol. The symbol represents the idea that life and nature is made up of opposing, yet complementary forces. November is a yin and yang month for stargazing in the northern hemisphere. Daylight Saving Time concludes November 3rd, so the sun now sets around 5:00pm. That gives us additional time (and darkness) for stargazing. The spectacular winter constellations begin to rise in the east at a more reasonable hour for observing. Yippee! That’s great yin! Now the yang. The act of stargazing, (being outside) is a burr, cold. Is having your finger, nose, and toes react with annoyance worth it? Without a doubt, the answer is “Yes!” Go ahead and put on a sweater, heavier coat and hat, and maybe gloves too, then step outside, and look up. You’ll be amazed. There are four meteor showers this month; the potential for northern lights in the lower 48; and the Moon and the Pleiades (the Seven Sisters) sashay and sway the night away across our mid-autumn night sky. Whew. That’s a full follow up feast of celestial yins for your post-Thanksgiving nocturnal walk with family and friends. Yea, bundle up; it’s a yang thing. So I ask you, ‘do you need any other motivation to layer up, step outside, and look up to the heavens this November?’ I think not.

Did I mention there are four meteor showers this month?     

 

Northern Lights: Solar Maximum is Now

During an October 15th teleconference NASA, NOAA, and the Solar Cycle Prediction Panel announced the Sun has reached its solar maximum period. This cycle is a reoccurring one in which the Sun transitions between low and high solar activity. A solar cycle is approximately 11-years. At its height, an absolutely weird thing happens and that is,our Sun turns itself upside-down. It flips its poles. North becomes south, and south becomes north. When this happens the Sun gets extremely active and stormy. This is the Sun at solar maximum and a time when it releases immense amounts of light, energy, and radiation as solar flares, solar winds, and coronal mass ejections.

This space weather creates another yin and yang. The yang: it affects satellites, communication systems, and power grids on Earth. The yin: it increases the likelihood and visibility of auroras on Earth, like the one above. (Special thanks to Aaron Watson, former chairperson of DarkSky Colorado, for this spectacular image of the aurora borealis from his home in Paonia, Colorado. He never misses a chance to view and capture northern lights.)

What does this mean to you? Simply put, be ready to get outside to witness the awe inspiring magic of the aurora borealis this month. Pro tip: Make it easy on yourself and sign up to receive solar activity alerts on your device using the link below. You’ll be glad you did. 



Northern Taurid Meteor Shower: Peak November 12th

The Northern Taurids Meteor Shower is a can’t-miss celestial event this year. I make this proclamation for three reasons. First, this year the shower peaks one day away from the New Moon (moonlight is minimal which makes the sky darker); second, the meteor shower is viewable from sunset to sunrise (you can see the shower early in the night); and third, the shower is easy to find in the night sky. That’s a lot of yin! Look at the image above, and note the position of Pleiades, and the position of the brightest star in the constellation Taurus. The star of Aldebaran. The Northern Taurids’ shower is the result of tiny grains or bits of dust trailing behind Comet Encke, hitting, skipping, or skimming across and off the Earth’s atmosphere.

To find the radiant point of the meteor shower, look towards the eastern horizon after 7:30pm MT. You are looking for the brightest star in the east, close to the horizon, which is Aldebaran. Extend your arm, clench your fist, and put your pinky next to Aldebaran and turn your wrist up 90-degrees, so your thumb is straight up. Here is where the majority of the meteors radiate from. Remember, this area moves across the sky throughout the night. The best time to look is at midnight when the radiant point is highest in the sky. You can anticipate seeing on average 4–6 meteors per hour. Sad to say, there’s some yang with this event, as you would expect. Our brilliant goddess, the Moon is 3-days shy of becoming full, and you can expect her to be fully radiant that night. While the best time to view the shower is near midnight, the moonlight will be bright at that time. Consequently, it’s better to look for the meteors earlier in the evening before the Moon rises high in the sky.


Leonid Meteor Shower:  Peak November 17th 

The annual Leonid Meteor Shower is active from the 6th through the 30th.  The meteors radiate from within the constellation Leo. This year it is estimated there will be approximately 15 meteors per hour at its peak on the 17th and18th. The meteor showers arise when the Earth passes through streams of debris left in the wake of comets and asteroids. Over time, the tiny debris inside the stream spreads along the entire length of the object's orbit. Look for meteors between the hours of 11pm and 6:15am for meteors radiating slightly above the east-northeast horizon and then moving due west across the sky as night progresses. The maximum meteors per hour is anticipated to be around 6am the morning of the 18th. Tailor made viewing for all of your early risers! 

The meteor shower is created by the Comet Temple-Tittle. Every 33-years, the Leonid shower becomes a storm and puts on a spectacular show. Then, thousands of meteors ride the night sky per hour, instead of the 10 – 15 meteors we are likely to see this time.  Astrophysics believe the debris stream the Earth will pass through this year was like the result of the meteor’s passing in 1767. Next big outbursts? 2033, 2034, 2061, and 2099. 


Twisting the Night Away: The Moon and The Seven Sisters: November 15 - 16th 

While the daughters of mighty Atlas and the Oceanid nymph Pleione, spend most of their nights fleeing the lecherous Orion the Hunter, this evening they stop to accept the Moon’s invitation to dance, sway, and swirl into the night. So when the last dance is called and the night is over, you can bet they all had a good time.

The night begins with the Moon, Luna, and the seven sisters, also referred to as The Pleiades, rising over the eastern horizon already in appulse. (The sisters are left of the Moon.) An appulse is when two or more celestial objects are in close proximity. More so, when two or more celestial objects share the same right ascension (loosely meaning the same astronomically longitude) is called a conjunction. Moreover, when one celestial object passes in front of another, it is called an occultation. On this night, all three of these celestial events happen. Heck, does our troupe ever take a break?

One of the truly spectacular celestial objects of the autumn and winter seasons is the Pleiades, also known as Messier 45, or M45. It is an open star cluster located in the constellation of Taurus. Galileo Galilei was the first astronomer to view the Pleiades through a telescope. The Frenchman, Charles Messier, measured the position of the cluster and identified it in his 1771 catalog. An open cluster is a group of up to a few thousand stars that were formed inside the same giant molecular cloud and are roughly the same age. The seven brightest in the cluster are known as the “Seven Sisters” and are somewhat similar in shape to Ursa Major (Big Dipper) and Ursa Minor (Little Dipper) which is why Pleiades is informally referred to as the “Mini Dipper.”

Here’s a thought for you. What about that night you take the hand of your special someone, step outside and dance with the Moon and the sisters, and the heavens above?


A-Monocerotids Meteor Shower:  Peak November 21st

Here’s a meteor shower for the late night owl stargazer. Before floating off to dreamland, or streaming your next movie, the a-Monocerotids meteor shower beckons. Here’s what these late nighters know that we don’t know; which is sometimes, the day is better at night. There’s a twist.  

The a-Monocerotids meteor shower is the result of comet C/1917 F1 Mellish and is active from the 15th through the 25th. The peak Zenithal Hourly Rate (ZHR) is the early morning of the 21st. The night of the 20th look towards the eastern horizon after 10pm local time to find the radiant point of the shower inside the constellation Canis Minor. The meteor shower is visible till dawn breaks on the 21st. The peak time to view the shower is between 4-5am as the radiant point is directly overhead (the Zenith). By then, the Earth’s rotation achieves an optimal direction towards the incoming meteors, so more meteors raining vertically straight down towards you. Before and after that period the meteors hit the Earth’s atmosphere at an oblique angle. While fewer meteors, those you see tend to last longer and traverse a greater distance of the inky night sky before burning up.

Once again, November shows us how it is a month of yin and yang, however. The yang? The night and morning of the a-Monocerotids peak period, the Moon rises late night on the 20th shortly after the radiant point for the meteor shower rises above the eastern horizon. Consequently, a brighter sky makes viewing dimmer meteors difficult. Get out and look for the meteors late in the evening of the 20th before the waning gibbous Moon overpowers the night.   

 

Orionid Meteor Shower:  Peak November 28th 

The Orionid meteor shower is active this year between November 13th and December 6th. At peak on the 28th, the Orionid are anticipated to produce around 3 meteors per hour. Not that much. Worse is this year, the Moon rests in the constellation Taurus, and is one day past full as the shower’s peak and consequently spread significant interfering light across the night sky. You’ll never see the dimmer meteors as they will be washed out by moonlight. Yet, for the undaunted, the radiant point (central origination point of the meteor shower) is in the constellation Orion which becomes visible after the constellation rises above the eastern horizon around 6:30pm local time. Like a couple of meteor showers this November, the show lasts all night, setting when they are obscured by the next morning’s sunrise. It is anticipated that the peak of this shower is shortly after it rises in the east between 7:30pm and 8:00pm local time.

To find the radiant point for the Orionid Meteor Shower, simply go back and review the directions above for locating both the Northern Taurids Meteor Shower and the Pleiades star cluster. The only difference is that the Orionid shower is one hour later, and on a different date. How easy is that? 


For stargazers, November is a yin and yang autumnal month. When you look up at the celestial sphere this month, you’ll experience a yin of beauty and bounty unfolding endlessly above. Yin in November is the mystery, grandeur, and beckoning you feel in the presence of the universe any clear night. Yang in November is the undeniable chill on your nose, ears, and toes. Your body gets cold.  Stay strong, dress warm, and carry on. Pull your hood up, step outside and look up; connect with this wonderfully expanding universe above and around you.  You’ll be thankful that you did.

Did I mention there are four meteor showers this month?

 

Clear skies to you, and Happy Thanksgiving.



Image Credits: Aaron Watson, In-the-Sky.org, Starry Night 8

Sources Credits: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio, Astronomy Magazine, Wikipedia, Sky and Telescope Magazine, Space.com, and SkyatNightMagazine

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